KG and the Celtics Tap Out

A night after winning sloppily against the Trail Blazers, the Celtics play finally caught up to them. The game got out of hand early, and once it came to this point the Celtics became, well, ballsy. Due to their frustration, Rivers and Garnett were both ejected (2nd and 4th quarter respectively), and to make matters worse, Glen Davis left early with a right hamstring strain. The extent of Davis’s injury is not known, but hamstring strains tend to linger (see, Rajon Rondo) and the C’s could be losing a very valuable piece off the bench.

When asked about why referee, Steve Javie, ejected him Rivers said, “[Javie] actually came into our huddle. We were standing there, he came up to us. I’ll tell you exactly what was said. He said, ‘You guys are complaining way too much.’ And I said, ‘Well, let’s make the right calls.’ And his answer back was, ‘I’ll make a call for you.’ And that’s how I got the tech.” Moments later, with 4:33 to play in the 2nd quarter, Rivers was given his second technical and was ejected for clapping and yelling what seemed to be “It’s all about you” towards the referee.

In the 4th quarter, down by as much as 18 as one point, the Celtics had their backs up against the wall and it resulted in sloppy play and even sloppier decisions. Attempting to shoot a three, Suns Center Channing Frye was “sack-tapped” by Garnett on his way down. As a result Frye landed on Garnett’s foot which led to tempers flaring between both teams and eventually four technical fouls against the Celtics (2 for Garnett, 1 for Nate Robinson, and 1 for Kendrick Perkins).

It was an all around bad day in Phoenix as the Celtics were held to a season low 71 points against one of the NBA’s worst defenses. Not to mention the fact that the Celtics shot an atrocious 34.2 % as a team. The Celtics now have a much needed day off before they head to LA and face everyone’s favorite villain, the Los Angeles Lakers. Hopefully facing the Lakers will put a little fire into the C’s who have been very lackluster of late.